Letdown cabinet



Aprilv 14, 1953 L. A. sTEBBlNs ETAL LETDOWN CABINET 2 SHEETS--SHEET l Filed Sept. 9. 1950 April 14, 1953.

L. A. sTEBBlNs ETAL 2,635,030

LETDOWN CABINET Filed Sept. 9. 1950 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Patented Apr. 14, 1953 LE'TDOWN onlririrr l ALeo A. Stebbins and Serge P. Khatunzeff, Denver, Y Y Colo.; saidlihatunzei assignorto'sa-id Stebbins l Application setembei 9, 1950, serial Nt. 184,084

v4 Claims. (o1. sitz-319) ,e This invention relates to a self-lowering cabinet. Many cabinetsin kitchens, stores, andother places are so exceedingly high that itfis impossible to reachthe upper 'shelves or the upper boxes therein Without` the usev of aladder.

' The principal object of this invention is to pro.-` vide a simple and highlyV efficient device whereby theupper shelf portions or boxes of high cabinets'A can be quickly andeasily lowered to a conven-TVA iently accessible height.v

vAnother object of the invention is toprovide a. self-lowering cabinet in'whichfgthe upper por@v` tion or b ox thereof will maintain "itself perfectly Vlevel at all elevations Awithout V,tlfiejluse of guide tracks, gear` ;ra'cks fand the other mechanisms usually deemedV necessary and tosc construct the device that it will not interfere vin any way with the normal uses of the cabinet. f

Other objects and advantages reside inthe detail construction of the invention,l which 'is designed for simplicity, economy, and .efvciencyv These will becomev more apparent from` the'fol-'jy lowing descripti-on..V

vIn the following detailed description of thef invention, reference is hadto the accompanying, drawing which forms apart hereof. t Like nu' merals refer to like parts in all views of the d ravvg,

ing and throughout the description.

In the drawing;

F1g.;1 is a vertical Across-secti'on upper` portion of the improvedgcabinet, vtakenon;`

the line If-fI, Fig. 4, illustrating, in solid line, 'an

upper cabinet'box in place inthe cabinet, and.

in' broken line the upper cabinet box is moved forwardlyfrom its normal inplace position;

, Fig. 2 is asimilar sectional view, illustrating.` Yin solid line, the upper box partially lowered and,

in broken line, the upper box fully lowered;v- .Y

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, detail, top'view.ofptlie` upper box in the loweredy position;

Fig. 4is afront 1view'of th the cabinetin whichthe inventionV isfinooipo-`v` rated; and

AFig. 5v is i throughan .alternate form of rc'nlle'rior,theA im?, proved cabinet.

In the drawing, a cabinet or case of shelves of any desired height is,inc li't'zatedA at I Al). .Forlcone Vehien .01111; .the upper'pertibn 0f thellc'abinet,

I0'is illustrated'in the drawing. f A shelf I Idivides i e upperl lof an enlarged'- longitudinal the upper, diiiicultly accessible portion of jlthe cabinet from the lower accessible portion thereof. A movable shelf box I2 is positioned in the cabinet above the shelf I I Y A stationary upper link plate I3 is secured, by, means of bolts I4, to the inner face of each side wall of the cabinet III at each side of the box I2.

A first set of parallel links I5 hingedly dependsV from hinge rivets I6 in each 'of the upper link plat-es |13. The links! 5 are'of uniform length and terminate at their lower extremities at pivot rivets rI1 mounted in swinging plates I.8 at each' side ofthe box.,A .4 i 4, l A second set vof. paralleljlinks. I9 extendsA normallyupward, ateach side of the ...box I2, from pivot'A rivets 2,0 inthe plate I8, to` similar rivets 2I in a second link plate 22. The two links 'I9 l are .similar in length and correspond to the lengthsl of the linksl. The two secondlink plates 22 aresecured against the opposite sides ofthe box I2 by means of suitable attachment screws23.v c ..1 vThe result is that the box I2 is swingingly suspended from the stationary plates I3 and is free to be'moved forwardf'and downward to any de-r sired position,"always maintaining itsoriginal vertical position due to thevparallel relativeaction of the links I5 and I9. l

It is desired vto call attention vto the position#` ing of the rivets I6, I1, 20 and 2I. The forward rivets I6 and I1 Vare positioned at a higher ele?,

vation than the rearward rivets I6 and I1. 'Thisv thebox is swungf'orw'ardly to obtain a maximum bracing effect on the box. The two rivets 2I and the two rivets 20 are placed in vertical alignment with each other to allow a maximum verti cal movement of the box. Y

The movements of the box I2 are controlled and actuated by two flexible cables orcords 24. Each cord extends fromattachment bars 25 adjacent theA rear edge* of fthe top of the box to second the bottom of thebox. f 1

' Each cord, intermediate its extremities, is wound' about a spool 21, the mid-portions of the cords passing through openings 28 in the spools.V and being locked therein by means of set screws, 29. The spools 21 are xedly mounted on a spool' 3 shaft 30, by means of set screws 3|, which extends completely across the cabinet I!) above the forward extremity of the shelf II. The spool shaft '30 may be rotated, either normally or mechanically, in any desired manner.

Let us assume that the box I2 is suspended from the links I5 and I 9 in the solid line position of Fig. l, and that the shaft 30 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction. This causes the spools 21 to reel in the upper portions of the cords 24 and to reel out the lower portions thereof. This action carries the box I2 directly forward, as shown in broken line in Fig. 1, due to the parallel holding action of the links I5 and I 9. Further rotation of the shaft 30 in the same direction causes the box I2 to be pulled downwardly, thus swinging the plate I8 rearwardly. as shown in solid line in Fig. 2. Continued rotation of the shaft pulls the box I2 still further downward, as shown in broken linein Fig. 2, so

' as to bring the links I5 and I9 to their fully ex- 2. A cabinet comprising: a lower cabinet portion; an upper cabinet portion; a shelf box positioned in said upper cabinet portion and being withdrawable through the front of the latter; a first pair of parallel links mounted on and swingingly suspended from said upper cabinet portion at each side of said box; a second pair of parallel links mounted on and swingingly suspended from each side of said box; a floating member hingedly connected to all of the links at each side of said box so that as said box is drawn forward, it will be maintained upright by the parallel action of said links; a exible cord secured at one extremity adjacent the frontL of the bottom of said box and at its other extremity adjacent the rear of the top of said box; a cord spool, said cord being wound around said spool intermediate the extremities of the former; and means for mounting said spool for rotation so as to wind said oord to withdraw said box from said upper cabi- Y net portion, `said links being sufiiciently long to tended position. The box is returned to its normal position by reversing the direction `of' yrotation oi the shaft 3i). During the upward and downward movements oi the box. the back of the latter rides .against the spools 2T which actto limitthe Vrearward swing of the box.

l In Fig, 5 an alternatev form of spool is illustrated at 32 mounted on a xed spool shaft 33 surrounded by a coil spring 34. One extremity oi' thecoil spring 34 is secured to the nxedshaft 32 and the other extremity is secured to the spool 3I. 'Ihe direction of .winding of the springs is such that when the box is pulled forwardly and downwardly toward the broken line position of an equivalent counterweight in installations .i

where the latter would be preferable over the spring.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same maybe varied, within the scope-of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described.A the invention, what-is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

f-lf A cabinet comprising: a lower cabinet portion; an upper cabinet portion; a shelf box positioned in said upper cabinet portion and being withdrawable through the vfront ofthe latter; a first pair of parallel .links mounted on and swingingly suspended from said upper `cabinet portion at each side of said box; a second pair of parallel links mounted on and swingingly suspended from each sideof said box; a floating member hingedly connected to all of the links at each side of said boxso that as said box is drawn forward, it will be maintained upright by the. parallel action of. said links;- a iiexible cord secured at one extremity adjacent the front of the bottom of said box and at its other extremity adjacent the rearcf the top of said box; a cord spool, said cord being wound around said spool intermediate the extremities of the former; and means for mounting saidspool for rotation so as to wind said cord to withdraw said box from said upper cabinet portion.

allow said box to be lowered substantially below its position insaid upper cabinet portion, said spoolbeing so positioned that said box will rest thereagainst as it descends to its lowermost position.

3. A cabinet comprising: a lower cabinet portion; an upper cabinet portion; a shelf box positioned in said upper cabinet portion and being withdrawable through the front of the latter; a rst link plate secured to said box at each side thereofA adjacent the forwardupper corner; a second link plate secured to the sides of said upper cabinet portion at each side of said box and adjacent the rear upper corner of the latter; a iirst pair of parallel links hingedly suspended from the first link plate; a second pair oi parallel links hingedly suspended from the second plate; a floating link plate hingedly mount-- ed on the lower extremities .of the. links atv eachv side of said box, the links of each pair beingof the same length so that they will act to maintain said box upright as it is vmoved forwardly and downwardly from its normal position; a spool shaft extending across said upper cabinet portion vbelow said box; a-spool mounted on said spool shaft; a first flexible member secured toand wound about said spool in one direction; and a second exible member secured to and wound about said spool in the opposite direction, theextremity ofthe first flexible member being secured to the bottom of said box adjacent the forward edge of the latter, and said second exible member being secured Ato thetopof said box adjacent the rearward edge of the-latter so that as said spool is rotated in one direction, it-

of parallel links mounted on and swingingly suspended from each side of said box; a oating member hingedly connected to alll of the links at each side of said box so that as said box is drawnforward, it will be maintained upright by the parallel action of said links; a flexible cord secured atV one extremity adjacent the` front oi the bottom of said box and .at its other extremity adjacent the rear of the top of said box; a cord spool, said cord'being wound around said spool intermediate the extremities of the for..

mer; and a counterbalance spring within said Number spool arranged to be wound by the forward and 753,865 downward movement of said box. 1,070,525 LEO A. STEBBINS. 1,100,329 SERGE P. KHATUNZEFF. 5 1,434,880 1,517,935 References Cited in the 111e of this patent 2,547,597 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.555,254 Number Name Date 2579876 360,020 Iske Mar. 29, 1887 1 396,665 Potter Jan. 22, 1889 Number 670,793 Lippincott Mar. 26, 1901 408,136

Name Date Field Mar. 8, 1904 Pieper Aug. 19, 1913 Sellers June 16, 1914 Drysdale Nov. 7, 1922 Azamber Dec. 2, 1924 Roggero Apr. 3, 1951 Stebbins May 29, 1951 Stebbins Dec. 25, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Jan. 9, 1925 

